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JAC Group, an interior designer and project-manager of working environments, has undergone a secondary management buy-out.

The buy-out was backed with debt arranged by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), with private equity firm Bowmark Capital providing £11 million. RBS underwrote the senior debt and working capital and provided support and advice to the firm throughout the deal.

The RBS team comprised Colin Robertson, Simon Greenhill and Andrew Clayton from the bank’s corporate and structured finance South team. At an early stage they were introduced to the deal by Bowmark Capital.

RBS has a long-standing relationship with Bowmark Capital, completing several transactions with them over the past few years.

Commercial due diligence was provided by Parthenon Group, a boutique strategic advisory firm. The team was led by Mark Jeynes, senior principal and head of Parthenon’s private equity practice in London.

Jeynes said: “Whilst the time available to conduct the commercial due diligence was typical for a mid-market deal, the nascent nature of the market resulted in a number of challenges in relation to the availability of market data.

“JAC through its JACOB subsidiary is well positioned to secure a greater share of the bed bank market given its strong base of business in the UK and increasing number of relationships with hotels overseas.”

JAC Group has grown rapidly in a sector of the travel market that is expected to see further growth. Robertson at RBS said: “We completed the transaction within an extremely tight timescale, and are looking forward to helping the business as it takes advantage of future opportunities.”

Founded in 1975, JAC comprises three businesses: JACOB Online, a fast-growing B2B bed bank, providing tour operators, travel agents and online retailers with access to beds at more than 3,000 independent and small chain hotels; JAC Travel, a tour operator for groups travelling to the UK and Europe. JAC Scotland operates inbound tours specialising in group and individual trips to Scotland.

The group has offices in London, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Prague and Belgrade. The current management team has led the business for more than 20 years, and plans to expand and develop the JACOB Online business throughout Europe and Asia, to take advantage of the rapid growth in the online travel sector.

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